Sparks
by MarvelDarling
Summary: A friendship begins out of common ground, and only deepens with time. People around see sparks, but the parties involve refuse to acknowledge them. Jealousy and hurt begin to take hold. Will the sparks fight their way through or will they fizzle out?


Chapter One

"Seriously, Blake, just back the fuck off right now."

"Babe, just listen to me..."

The brunette jerked away as the mountain of a man next to her reached for her tattooed arm. Her arm was covered in a sleeve of Disney princess tattoos but at the present moment, she didn't feel very princess like. "There is not a damn thing we need to talk about."

"Babe..."

"Stop!" the girl exclaimed. "Stop with the fucking babe shit! I'm not your babe!"

"You still got the ring on your finger."

Her jaw clenched as she twisted and turned, yanking the enormous diamond engagement ring off her finger. She held it out in the man's direction. "Here. There ya go. Problem solved."

Blake shook his head. He was huge, in both height and musculature with jet black hair, a nearly orange tan, and eyes so blue they were almost clear. He had ink on nearly every inch of skin available. Though he was a Los Angeles based personal trainer, with his own gym and celebrity clientele, he looked more like he'd just walked off an episode of The Jersey Shore. "I'm not taking that," he said, arms folded across his inflated chest.

The girl rolled her hazel eyes. In the light of their upscale apartment, they were glowing an emerald green. Though, with the fire currently burning in her soul, they should've been red. Blood red. "Fine," she sighed. She lifted her bare feet and walked across the wood floor, laying the engagement rock in the dresser. "There. Fine. Done."

"Babe..."

"Seriously, one more time and I'm slapping the shit out of you. I have a goddamn name."

Blake rolled his eyes. "Jo, I know I messed up..."

Josie Kern burst into laughter, despite the tears welling in her eyes. "You messed up? Messed up? You fucked someone else, Blake. And left the proof on your damn phone."

"Well, first of all, you shouldn't have been looking at my phone..."

"Oh that's how you wanna do this? It's my fault?"

"That's not what I'm saying."

"That's what it sounds like!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I don't care!" Josie exclaimed, the tears finally overflowing into her high cheekbones. "We've been doing this seven years. Seven fucking years, Blake. We have a son. We should be planning a wedding and you're out banging some fucking stripper."

"She isn't a stripper..."

"I don't care if she's the goddamn Queen of England, Blake! That's not the fucking point!" Josie stopped and took a deep breath. She was thankful her mother had picked up their four year old a few hours earlier because she was about to lose it for good. "I am not doing this, Blake. I'm not going to be the dumbass girl who lets her man run around and do whatever the fuck he wants and turns a blind eye to it. I am not that girl, I will never be that fucking girl..."

"I know you're not, Jo, but it's not gonna happen again. It was a mistake."

"Oh it was a mistake?" Josie fired. "So then you just tripped and like...your dick fell into her or some shit? Is that how that works?"

"Josie, just relax a minute."

"No, fuck you. I'm not gonna relax," Josie snapped. "As a matter of fact, I'm done, ok? Don't talk to me. Let me pack my shit and get the fuck out of here."

"JoJo, don't do this."

"I'm leaving, Blake. I'm out."

"Where you gonna go? Your mom's?"

"No. I'm going to Tahoe like WE were supposed to."

"So what? I'm just not invited anymore?"

"Fuck no," Josie said with a scoff as she went back to stuffing her suitcase. "You show up, you get your ass beat."

Blake scoffed. "By who?"

"Me, Kari, Jeremy, any number of people who show up," Josie stated. "Ain't a single one gonna be on your side."

"So we're just done then? It's a wrap? Seven years are just over?"

"Yup. Pack your shit. Get outta my house. I'll be back in a week."

"The fuck am I supposed to do, Jo?"

"That's not really my problem. You made your bed, you fucking lay in it."

"Jo..."

"No," Josie interrupted, her head slowly waving back and forth. "Just stop. Go...bang your bitch or something. Just get the fuck outta my face."

Blake took a deep breath, his immense jaw clenching. He wanted to fight, but there was no use. Nothing he said at this point would even be heard, so he tucked his tail between his legs and headed to the front door. This battle, however, was far from over.

"I just don't get it," Chris Evans stated, running his hands over his freshly shaved head. "How did I have this so wrong?"

Jeremy Renner shook his head. "I dunno, man. I wish I could answer that but... I am as confused as you are."

"I bought a ring, dude. A ring," Chris stated. "I'm over here ready to wife this girl and she says it's over. How could I have not picked up on that? How could I have not noticed something was wrong?" Jeremy just shrugged and shook his head. "I'm sorry, man," Chris continued with a bit of a groan. "My brain is just trying to figure this the fuck out."

"Don't be sorry," Jeremy argued. "I just wish I could help you out but I don't even know what to say. You and Casey...you guys were perfect. The captain and the cheerleader. I thought... I thought she was it. I really did."

"You and me both," Chris sighed before taking a swig of the beer in his hand. He fell silent, gazing over the ledge at the lake in front of him. Tahoe was beautiful right now and he was incredibly grateful that Jeremy had opened the doors of his home. The man chuckled lightly and shook his head. "I'm done, dude. I'm hanging it up. No more dating."

"Don't do that," Jeremy argued, shaking his head. "Don't retire."

"I have to, dude. I'm fucking exhausted," Chris said with a laugh. "I'm too tired to keep this shit up."

"Then take a break! Go see some wild oats! You've been off the market for three years, go have some fun!"

"I don't have any left to sew!" Chris exclaimed. "I'm done with all that, you know this. I just want a nice girl that I can settle down with and...start the next phase, man. I'm over the bullshit."

"I get it man, I do. Just..." Jeremy stopped talking as he heard the deck door slide open.

"Sorry to interrupt," a raven haired beauty said, walking outside. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're fine, babe," Jeremy assured, wrapping an arm around his fiancé's shoulders. "What's up?"

"Um, JoJo is on her way," the girl, Kari, answered.

"Just Jo?"

"She found out Blake's been...having a bit of an affair."

Jeremy's eyes widened. "What? No."

"Yeah. She, um, found some pictures on his phone that were...somewhat less than appropriate..."

"Son of a bitch..."

"Yeah so she's hopping on a flight and I'll go get her. Should be here by ten or so."

"Well good. I'm glad we can at least get her outta there."

"You guys are running the Heartbreak Hotel over here," Chris said with a bit of a laugh.

"Hey, if it helps you guys out, I'm all for it," Jeremy stated. "We got a good week and a lot of drinking to do."

"I am all for it." And he was. More than he could even explain.

"The girls are back!" Jeremy exclaimed, jumping up from the couch as he heard the garage door open.

Chris, more than a few drinks in, burst into laughter. "So you jump up like we're doing down thing wrong!?"

"I'm excited!" Jeremy retaliated. "Shut up!"

"You're so fucking weird," Chris chuckled, even though he was getting up to follow the wound up actor toward the kitchen.

It took a few seconds before the girls opened the door that led to the adjoining three car garage. Kari walked in first, dragging a mid-sized suitcase behind her and then came Josie; dark hair up in a sloppy bun, short denim cutoff shorts, flip flops and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off down to the hem, revealing the sides of her black lacy bralette. She looked like she didn't give a fuck and she really didn't.

"There she is," Jeremy greeted, walking toward the girl.

"Hey," she sighed with a weak smile as the man's arms wrapped around her shoulders. She dipped her head, her face planting into his shoulder. This hug was exactly what she needed.

"How are you?" he asked softly, though he knew the answer.

"Exhausted," Josie answered as she stood up straight and then messed with the bun atop her head. "Kind of numb, I guess."

"Do I get to go kick his ass?" Jeremy questioned.

Josie chuckled lightly. "It's not even worth the energy. I gave him the ring and told him to be gone by the time I got back."

"I'm really sorry, kiddo."

"Me too," Josie agreed. "Not really looking forward to explaining to my four year old why his daddy isn't there anymore." She sighed again and finally noticed the extra body in the room. "Oh...hi. I'm fucking rude."

Chris smiled reassuringly. "It's fine, seriously," he assured, extending the left hand toward the girl. "I'm Chris."

"Josie. Nice to meet you," Josie smiled sweetly.

"I kinda feel like we've met before..." Chris said, looking at the girl curiously.

"You have," Kari stated, pushing Josie's suitcase up against the wall. "J's birthday party last year."

"Oh yeah!" Josie grinned, a bright light almost visibly going off over her head. "We sang 'A Whole New World' together!"

Chris laughed in remembrance. "Because I was freaking out over your tattoos! Huge Disney fan. HUGE."

"I remember," Josie laughed. "Well, let's hope we have as much fun this time as last time because lord knows I need the distraction."

"Cheers to that," Chris said with a sigh before polishing off the beer in his hand.

"Chris just got dumped," Jeremy explained, heading to the fridge to get the room another round. "Like this morning."

"No way..."

Chris's baseball cap covered head slowly began to nod. "Yup. Three years. I thought things were heading one direction but apparently they were heading nowhere."

"I know that feeling," Josie sighed, cracking open the beer Jeremy had just placed in front of her. "I guess love makes you blind or some shit."

"Amen."

"You guys will both..."

"Nuh-uh," Josie quickly interrupted, drink to her lips, hand up, signaling the man into silence. "Don't even do that. Don't do the 'there's somebody for everyone' bullshit. I was with the man for seven years. Seven. I put him through school. We had a home. We have a son. We were a family. He WAS my someone okay? I mean we were planning a wedding for fucks sake."

Jeremy nodded in agreement. "You're right. I get it."

"Do you? Cuz I don't. Why would you throw all of that away for some tramp you met at the gym?" Josie asked. She paused and shook her head. "I take that back. I don't know she's a tramp. For all I know he was lying to her too."

"JoJo..." Kari began.

"Ya know...things have felt off for the last like...year. But I just ignored it. I thought we're both busy. We just need some one on one time and it'll be fine. How fucking stupid am I?"

"You're not stupid," Kari argued. "Not at all."

"Coulda fooled me," Josie mumbled, her eyes zeroing in on the label she was anxiously picking from the bottle on the granite counter in front of her.

"Nah, man. He's the stupid one," Chris chimed in. "Anyone that would throw that all away for some random chick, he's a special kind of stupid."

"You don't even know him," Josie smiled.

"Doesn't sound like I want to," Chris retorted.

"I do!" Jeremy jumped in. "He's a real turd!"

The entire room shook with laughter. "Honey, how drunk are you?" Kari giggled.

"Pretty," Jeremy answered.

"I need to catch up," Josie chuckled.

"We'll get to work," Chris grinned. This was good. He was already feeling better.

"So how many tattoos do you have?"

The party had moved out onto the patio, complete with lounge chairs and a glowing fire pit. In the last hour, the ladies had done a pretty good job of catching up to the boys' stage of inebriation. However, at this point in the festivities, Jeremy and Kari were more concerned with cuddling and dozing on a lounge chair than drinking any more.

The girl had to stop and think, one eye closed, one looking up to the sky. "Well...the Disney sleeve obviously..."

"Obviously."

"Um...I've got these bows on the back of my thighs," she said turning her leg to Chris's view. "Like stockings..."

"That's kinda hot."

"My back is pretty much covered with various things..."

"Alright..."

"And my son's name," Josie said, holding up her list in the light of the fire.

"What's it say?" Chris asked, eyes squinted.

"Max," Josie answered. "Maxwell Colt."

"That's adorable. How old is he?"

"Four. He'll be five in December."

"I love kids."

"You have any?"

Chris pursed his lips and shook his head. "Nah. Not yet. I want to but...it's not working out real well for me at the moment."

"Well I'll introduce you to Max. He can fill that void for you easily. Maybe he'll change your mind."

Chris laughed. "I doubt it."

"That kid...he is a fireball of energy. Just nonstop. He doesn't stop moving or talking or asking questions," Josie laughed. "But I love him. To pieces. Wouldn't trade him for the world."

Chris chuckled as his eyes slowly drifted to the lawn chair in between them where Kari and Jeremy had apparently fallen asleep. "Are we that boring or are they just old?"

"Both," Josie scoffed, polishing off another beer and rising from her chair. "I need a hoodie and another drink."

"Bring it on, girl," Chris agreed.

"Good. I will be right back." Josie took Chris's empty bottle and headed inside.

Chris took a deep breath and gazed in the direction of the expansive lake. It was midnight and everything was quiet, calm. The water was sparkling under the moon, the stars, the various outdoor lights. Despite the terrible start to the day, at this moment, he was enjoying himself. Quite a bit.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Josie asked, reappearing in a black Nike sweatshirt and handing him a beer.

"Absolutely," Chris said with a solitary nod as he followed her.

As they headed out onto the sand, Chris realized the girl still wasn't wearing anything on her feet. "Do you still have something against shoes?" he asked with a grin.

Josie laughed, kicking her purple pedicured toes through the sand. "I kind of do actually. I'm a hippie at heart. I mean my parents named me Josephine Sunshine so..."

"Your middle name is Sunshine?"

Josie nodded. "Yup. It is." Chris stifled a laugh. "Go head. Laugh. Everyone else does."

"No! I think it's pretty."

"Well thank you."

There was a brief silence, but it wasn't awkward. It was nice, comfortable as if it was a silence amongst old friends. He sort of felt like they were, like they were old souls cut from the same cloth. He felt more comfortable with this girl who was practically a stranger than some folks he'd known his whole life.

"So..." he began, "you always lived in California?"

"Mostly, except for college."

"Where was college?"

"Berklee College of Music, in..."

"In Boston! I know! I'm from Boston!" Chris exclaimed excitedly.

"No wonder you're so chill."

"Aw, thanks."

"I'm serious. You're not one of these California assholes. I hate it out here, for real. I wish I had never left Boston. Aside from having Max, I guess but... I don't belong here."

"You like Boston?"

"I love Boston. It's so...I dunno, different. I mean I can literally do my job anywhere. I don't HAVE to be here..."

"What do you do? Something musical...I assume."

Josie chuckled. "I'm a songwriter. And a producer sometimes. Mostly writing though. I'm...apparently good at writing cheesy shitty pop songs."

Chris laughed. "I am sure they're not shitty."

"It's pop music. It's not gonna change the world, but it pays the bills."

"Anything I'd know?"

"I'm sure if you've turned on the radio you've heard something. I did Ariana Grande's last song, a few from her new album. Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, One Direction...that kind of stuff."

"Well damn. Look at you girl."

"Please. I'm not bragging."

"You should be. You should be proud of yourself. Getting a song on the radio is hard man. I don't imagine it's a hell of a lot different than getting a good movie out," Chris stated.

Josie shrugged. "You're probably right." She stopped for a moment as they happened on a pile of rocks. Big rocks. More like boulders. "Weird question..."

"Shoot."

"You wanna get high?"

"What...exactly are you referring to?"

"Just weed," Josie stated. "I'm not like...a huge pothead or something but...it helps my brain shut off so I grabbed some on my way here."

"I haven't smoked in a long...long time."

"Me either honestly."

"Alright, I'm in. Let's do this," Chris stated.

"Really?"

"Yay!"

Chris was laughing uncontrollably at this point as he laid on their giant boulder throne. "Oh my god, that's hilarious."

"Why?" Josie questioned, though she was definitely laughing too. "You're so mean!"

"I'm not!" Chris exclaimed. "I just can't picture it! You...and Kari...in some crazy Spice Girls like band... Maybe Kari. I can't see you."

"Why not?!" Josie cried, staring up at the starry sky, her head resting on the man's bicep. "Am I not hot enough to be a pop star?"

"I did NOT say that," Chris argued. "You are...incredibly hot. Kind of intimidating but, gorgeous."

"Aww, that's sweet."

"Two seconds ago I was mean."

"Well you're still that," Josie stated. "But go on YouTube. There's music videos. There's proof."

"Well you can beat your ass I'll be searching for that."

"Be my guest. Just don't go falling in love with me. It'll be hard, but control yourself."

"I will do my best," Chris chuckled. Josie looked him in the eyes and instantly started laughing. Chris followed suit though he didn't know why. "What? What's so funny?!"

"You're so fucking high right now."

"Me?!" Chris cried. "Me?! What about YOU?! Your eyes are more glazed than a damn donut!"

"Are not!"

"Oh I assure you, they are," Chris argued, tightening his arm around her shoulders as she slid closer. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Tonight has been...surprisingly fantastic. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," Josie stated. "I needed it as much as you did."

"Probably more," Chris stated. "I'm really sorry, by the way, that guy's a fool."

Josie gulped. "Yeah. Tomorrow's gonna suck."

"Yeah, probably. Probably the next day too."

"And the next day...and the day after that...and then the next month..."

"It'll get better though."

"I don't know if I believe that right now."

"I know. But it will. I promise."

"Okay," Josie said with a sigh as she sat up.

"No!" Chris argued. "Don't go!"

"No. I've got to. It's late and I really am not prepared to cry in front of you at this point in time," Josie stated, sliding off her rock slash chair and back into the sand. "You just go...do your YouTube search... Or PornHub whatever you gotta do."

"You on there too?"

"Nope. Fuck you. This is over."

"Aw come on!" Chris whined, jumping from the stone and jogging after the girl. "I thought we were besties!"

"Not anymore!"

"Goddammit."


End file.
